Multihulls!

Modern multihulls got their start in the 1960’s by being relatively cheap and embarrassingly fast when compared to the monohull sailing yachts of the day, and so attracted an enthusiastic following of iconoclasts. Since then, multihulls have cruised relentlessly up market - leaving the “cheap” aspect in the wake of history. Bernd Kohler is one multihull designer and pioneer who still appreciates the virtue of thrift, and his online…

Dave and Steve Clark talk about their new UFO foiler destined for production. Dave demonstrates the launch procedure (piece of cake), and takes the boat out for a quick flight. The boat is designed to remove the “user hostility” from the Moth foiler sailing experience, thus broadening the appeal of hydrofoil sailing.

Gary Dierking is experimenting with the “spinnaclaw” - a crab claw rigging idea that I proposed way back in 2008. It’s pretty cool to see someone take an idea sketch and make it real - thanks Gary! Apparently, there is both good and bad news…

QUILL is an innovative tacking proa designed and built by Kim Fisher in England. The experimental vessel features a crab claw sail and a unique sliding outrigger arrangement. Kim writes:

Firstly, I would like to say a BIG thank you to Proafile for giving me mountains of useful information and encouragement to actually build this boat. I have been accessing your pages for over 3 years and this boat design is the result. (*blushing*…

We’re pleased to announce that ‘Project Cheers’ - the story of the 1968 OSTAR racing proa - is again in print. A book in three parts, the story of CHEERS is narrated by the three principle players: Tom Follet the skipper, Dick Newick the designer, and Jim Morris, the race syndicate organizer and financier. A very good read, especially for budding R2AK syndicates.

This new edition is a labor of love of of Russell and Ashlyn Brown, of…

The starting horn for the second annual Race to Alaska sounded at 6:00 am, Thursday morning, the 23rd of June. 58 boats crossed the starting line and headed for Victoria, BC, the first leg of an epic 750 mile race to Ketchikan - no motors, and no support. For a few days beforehand, The small town of Port Townsend, WA was transformed into race headquarters, full of teams, boats, officials, sponsors, volunteers and media. We PT villagers…

Sealark is a 19’ expedition trimaran built for the 2015 Race to Alaska, but did not make it to the start. The construction is multi-chine stitch-and-glue plywood/epoxy with fiberglass skins, and a custom carbon fiber mast and sails. Weight is approx. 400 lbs complete. Human power is by sliding seat rowing, or paddle.

The boat requires more development and work (like figuring out how to keep the amas firmly attached) but the project…

Russell Brown of PT Watercraft is refitting a venerable Gougeon G32 in his shop this winter, and best of all, he’s blogging all the details! Sort of like hanging out in his shop, but a lot better because he’s still able to actually gets stuff done. If you’ve ever wanted to see how carbon fiber, epoxy and a vacuum bag all come together to make multihull magic (and who hasn’t?) then head on over to gougeon32.blogspot.com.

A report on a new cruising proa build by Manfred Meier, designed by Othmar Karschulin of multihull.de. Thanks to Manfred and Othmar for the submission! —Editor

I became aware of the proa when reading a book about multihulls, named “Mehrrumpfboote” (multihulls) written by Klaus D. Kurtz. I expected that this book would deal with catamaran and trimarans only. But instead it started with a report of William Dampier, one of the earliest…